


A Small Step, But Just Enough

by starboydjh



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: M/M, Phil Lester Is Not A YouTuber, YouTuber Dan Howell, and phil's his editor, beauty youtuber au, dan's a makeup guru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:55:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21920665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starboydjh/pseuds/starboydjh
Summary: Dan is a beauty Youtuber (a beau-tuber, if you will) and his boyfriend/manager/editor Phil has never worn makeup before, preferring to stay behind the camera. An off-handed comment from a friend at a party one night gets the wheels turning in Dan’s head.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23
Collections: Phandom Writers Discord 2019 Holiday Gift Exchange





	A Small Step, But Just Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [botanicalskeleton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/botanicalskeleton/gifts).



> for our discord server's fic exchange - merry everything Alex! I hope you like it <3 
> 
> big thanks to tara for beta-ing and just being the most amazing in general

For the last few years, Dan had been experimenting with makeup. It started off with just a light coverage of foundation, maybe some blush and mascara if he was feeling daring, but as the years wore on and society grew more accepting, Dan had gotten more adventurous. He was a master of crazy eyeshadow looks, loved a bold black lip, and even sometimes did his nails to match the looks he created. It was an outlet for him, something that made him feel comfortable in his own skin and gave him a creative outlet to expend his energy on.

When Dan started posting his makeup looks online, it was mostly just for fun. He was proud of his work and wanted to show it off. He never in a million years expected the following he’d gotten and the perks that it brought to him as well. Sure, the parties were nice, and the fame was cool and all, but the root of everything he did was a love of the art of makeup. He loved the way it made him feel, the way it could boost his confidence, and the way that his videos brought a smile to his followers’ face. 

Phil had never been one for it since he’d always been raised under the guise of makeup being “too gay” for him to wear. He wasn’t one of _those_ gay guys, he was just Phil. Then, Dan crashed into his life, and everything changed. As Dan gained more popularity online for his makeup looks through his Youtube channel and Instagram, Phil’s own internal prejudice eroded little by little. Dan was the most stunning man on earth to Phil, and his natural beauty was accentuated by his makeup. Phil wasn’t totally sure of a lot of the terms for it, but the way Dan could change the shape of his face was like magic, and Phil would get lost in listening to his boyfriend’s voice as he helped Dan film his videos. 

It was at a party with a few other influencers for the launch of a new palette where the idea was planted into Dan’s brain. They’d considered it before, but Phil’s answer when Dan asked was always a hard and firm no. 

“Dan, you should _so_ do Phil’s makeup on camera someday. Imagine this little cutie all dolled up for you, huh?” their friend Eliza had said, and Phil had laughed slightly uncomfortably.

“I leave the artistry to him, I’m just the editor,” Phil joked, but in the cab ride on the way home, he was thinking to himself, maybe he could just try it. 

Dan sneaking up behind him and resting his hands on Phil’s shoulders at their bathroom sink startled him out of his slight trance. “You have your thinking face on. What’s up?” Dan asked, pressing a gentle black-lipped kiss to the back of Phil’s neck. 

He shrugged, balancing his contact lens pot on the tap. “Nothing. Just about video ideas, that’s all,” Phil said with a smile, Dan’s face fuzzy before he put his glasses on. 

“What are we filming tomorrow? Wait, are we filming tomorrow?” Dan asked as he stepped to the side to scrape his makeup off. 

Phil shook his head. “No, we’re filming on Saturday to post on Monday. You didn’t have an idea for the video, though. It’s close to Christmas, do you want to do a Christmas look?” 

Dan hummed as he scrubbed a makeup wipe on his lips, smearing the black all over them and making them look as if he’d just eaten some black ice cream. “I’ll have to think about it, you know I like to plan out our videos.” Dan tossed the wipe in the garbage and pulled another. The only part of makeup that Dan didn’t like was the fact that he had to take it off at the end of the day. Preserving his looks for all of eternity was what Instagram was for, he supposed. 

“You have all day tomorrow to think about it, we don’t have anything going on tomorrow except a video call about the palette and dinner with your brother.” Sometimes (well, every time), Dan counted his blessings that his boyfriend was also his manager.

Listening to Phil’s gentle snoring that night, Dan formulated his plan. He wasn’t sure that Phil would agree to it, or else they’d have no video to post on Monday. But, he’d tell Phil that he was strapped for ideas, and if Phil hated how the video turned out then they’d skip a day and it would be fine. They’d done it before, their fans would understand. 

“Do you have an idea for your video tomorrow?” Phil asked the next day after Dan kissed him good morning and handed him a coffee, squeezing Dan’s hand in thanks without taking his eyes off his computer in his lap. 

Dan nodded and cleared his throat. “Yeah, I do actually, and I wanted to run it by you beforehand.” 

“Oh yeah?” Phil asked with mild interest. “What’s up? You rarely want to run ideas by me anymore.” 

“I was wondering if maybeIcoulddoyourmakeup?” Dan asked, running the last part of his question together quickly before he took a sip of his own coffee and swallowed the words down his throat. 

Phil’s head didn’t quite whip up from his computer, but it was a lot faster than he usually was. “You what?” he asked incredulously.

“I was wondering if, maybe, if you’re comfortable, I could do your makeup? Maybe? Possibly?” Phil scrubbed his hands over his face and slid them up to the top of his head, lacing his fingers together on top of his unstyled dinosaur hair. He was quiet for so long that Dan almost thought he’d upset him by asking. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I have other ideas, like you said last night we can do a Christmas look or something - ” Dan stopped himself before he dug himself into a deeper hole. 

Phil was still for a moment, his lips stretched into a thin line before he nodded slowly. “Nothing insane, mostly natural, like it’s not even there. I wear it for the video and take it off immediately. I don’t want to edit it, but I want to approve the final product before it’s posted.” 

Dan nodded feverishly. “Of course.”

After their brief video call to iron out the details of Dan’s own palette’s release, Phil asked if they could just bite the bullet and film the video that day instead of the next, and he looked almost paler than normal as he set up the lights. 

“You okay?” Dan asked, his gaze following his boyfriend, who just nodded. “You sure? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Phil forced himself to smile and nodded again. “I want to. It’ll be fun being together. Clap for me so I can synchronize the audio?” Phil asked, and Dan did as he asked. “Perfect. Okay, we ready?”

“Ready,” Dan said, rolling his shoulders out before Phil counted down from three silently and nodded at Dan. “Hello, internet! So, y’know when you get those weird shrimps in your brain that just won’t let go of an idea? This video is my brain shrimp. When Phil and I were at a party for Danielle’s palette, which you should really go check out, by the way, a thought was put into my head. Our good friend Eliza mentioned that I should do Phil’s makeup, and all through the party, I couldn’t shake the idea.” Dan went on rambling and as he was talking, Phil could picture the way he’d edit the video for Dan. His train of thought was broken though when he motioned for Phil to come and sit in the chair beside him. 

“Wait, I have to pull the frame out a little bit. It’s set for just you.” Phil said before he changed the zoom on the camera and then sat beside Dan. He paused for a moment so they could make the jumpcut in the editing process and then smiled and waved. “Hey, guys!” 

“I’m sure you all know Phil by now,” Dan said as he motioned to Phil. “So what are we feeling today, Phil?” 

“Whatever you’re feeling. Besides Halloween, I don’t think I’ve ever worn makeup before, so maybe something easy? Like intro to makeup.” 

Dan nodded once and looked at all the products that he’d set up for himself before they started filming. “Okay, so I think for you, we’ll start obviously with a good foundation for everything. I’ll go in with a primer and then a nice light coverage drop foundation on top of it. Then some nice natural eyes, to accentuate those gorgeous blue-green-yellow ocean eyes you have happening and finish with some natural-looking lashes. Sound good?” 

“Whatever you want sounds great to me,” Phil said with a smile at Dan, who smiled back. 

Phil was surprised by how much he actually liked the application process. Dan’s touches with the brushes and sponges were gentle, like he was trying to be delicate with Phil as he applied everything. He expertly explained the steps as he did everything, and every time Phil opened his eyes to look, he thought, he looked like his normal self. As the process went on and each layer was added, it felt like none of the products were really doing anything. 

He and Dan were bantering back and forth, and sure, Phil was playing up the drama for the camera a little bit, but Dan was playing right along with him. 

“Okay, lightly shut your eyes,” Dan said, eyeshadow brush poised in his left hand.

“Dan, I can either shut my eyes or open my eyes, what does _lightly shut your eyes_ mean?” Phil said back.

“Oh my God, how many hours of these videos have you edited? Shut your eyes.” Phil did as he said. “Now, keeping your eyes closed, raise your eyebrows. No, not that much, there we go. Thank you,” Dan said as he started moving the brush back and forth in a windshield wiper motion. “I’m using a super special eyeshadow that I can’t show you just yet but trust me, it’s fantastic,” Dan said, teasing at the big brain shrimp his fans had placed in his head over a year and a half ago. 

“Phil! Why have you done that!” Dan shrieked when Phil laughed at something Dan said and moved as he was applying mascara to Phil’s eyelashes, which made Phil laugh and move even more. 

“I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry! Can’t you just wipe it off and do it again?” He asked, and Dan just rolled his eyes before looking into the camera.

“See what I have to deal with here, people? God, you’re lucky that I love you,” he said as he wiped the spot of mascara off the bridge of Phil’s nose. 

“Yes, I am, now continue with the masterpiece that is my face.”

Dan leaned back and looked at Phil, gently turning Phil’s head side to side with the tips of his fingers. “Actually, I think we’re done. You have like, the longest eyelashes ever when you put mascara on so I don’t even think you need falsies. Let me show you. Ready?” He nodded. “Okay. One, two, three,” Dan said as he turned the mirror around so Phil could see. 

He looked like his normal self, but a better, more polished version. He finally understood what Dan meant when he said wearing makeup gave him more confidence. “This is insane. I look like I have nothing on, but like, I look so much better than before.” Phil said, barely able to take his eyes off himself in the mirror. “It’s like I’ve levelled up or something.” 

Dan gently took the mirror out of Phil’s hands. “We have to do the outro bit now, do you want to be in it or no?”

Phil nodded. “We didn’t just spend an hour doing this for me to disappear at the last second,” he said. 

Dan spent the full next day editing the video, and when Phil made fun of him for it, he just chalked it up to being rusty with the editing software. There was some truth to that, but in reality, Dan wanted to make the video as perfect as possible so Phil would approve of it on the first go. 

Phil did approve of it on the first try, and when they posted it, Phil felt a pang of anxiety as he hit the button to make the video public. He never normally paid attention to the reaction on social media to their videos, but for this one, it was hard to ignore. People were saying it was their best video, that Phil should always be in more videos, and that this was the best makeup look Dan had done. 

It went on to become their most popular video in just a few weeks. Dan’s heart swelled every time he saw Phil rooting through the box of everyday makeup he kept in their bathroom, looking for a tube of mascara or a pot of concealer to wear before they went out for meetings or lunch together. It was a small step, but it was just enough. Phil was the most stunning man on earth to Dan anyways, and he didn’t even need makeup to help.

**Author's Note:**

> drop me a line: starboydjh.tumblr.com
> 
> fuel my coffee addiction: ko-fi.com/hadley


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